


a light beckons home

by todreaminscarlet



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, episode IX speculation, one version of one reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 16:45:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5709682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/todreaminscarlet/pseuds/todreaminscarlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It ends in flashes of light, and in the wreckage, hope is found. // or, the final battle between the dark and the light, and the immediate fall out</p>
            </blockquote>





	a light beckons home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [viansian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/viansian/gifts).



> This is my first Star Wars fanfiction. I truly tried my best to do justice to the complexity of these characters and the detail of the SW Universe. I might have failed. Let me know gently.

She knew it would always end in a moment like this—the four of them together in a room, the masters and the apprentices of the dark and the light, staring, hovering, waiting.

 

The room is filled with the sound of panting breath as Kylo and Rey circle each other once again; their lightsabers are thrumming with ignited tension and lighting their faces. Rey knows she is struggling; her limbs are shaky and tired and her breaths are uneven. Kylo is stronger than ever, towering over her focused and angry.

 

But he’s distracted. And for that Rey is grateful.

 

Luke is confronting Snoke behind her, asking him about the Force and Palpatine and Vader, learning his ambitions and desires, and she is trying desperately to buy him more time.

 

Kylo has one eye on Luke at all times, and she uses those moments to slip past his defenses and to escape his offenses ( _keep moving_ , she tells herself, _just keep moving, you’re smaller, you can’t win, so keep moving)._

 

Their lightsabers meet with a decided crash, and she tries to hold and brace herself against the greater power of Kylo’s arm. As he presses his lightsaber down toward her, she sees a light flicker in his eyes.

 

She has seen this light in his eyes before (the light of shared loneliness and a fight that he doesn’t want to win and pain and _light_ ).

 

“Stop this,” she whispers. “It’s not too late to stop this.”

 

Kylo focuses all his attention on her, the full ferocity and conflict of his dark eyes, and if she was weaker, she could lose herself in their intensity. “It was too late before it begun,” he says, and she scoffs in reply.

 

“It’s never too late,” she spits out, and even then she is unsure if she believes what Leia and Luke have been saying. But they have grasped that idea and held on, and so she must do the same. “It’s never too late,” she repeats, and she sees the conflict in his eyes. “Stop this.”

 

“I _can’t_ ,” Kylo says, and she almost believes him.

 

“We can help you,” she says. “But you need to _stop_ this. Help Master Luke.”

 

At Luke’s name, Kylo’s eyes darken and he presses down even harder until she must break away into a roll and face him anew. Instead of following her, Kylo turns to face Snoke and Luke as they circle each other. Luke holds his lightsaber in his hand, but it is unlit.

 

“And why Ben?” Rey hears Luke ask.

 

“The youngest Skywalker?” Snoke says incredulously. “He’s the sole child, Vader’s grandson, of _course_ I wanted him; I wanted him to be what you kept Vader from becoming, to help _me_ become greater.” Snoke pauses his movement and sweeps his arms to his sides. He takes a step toward Luke, intense in his sudden ferocity, and says, “and Luke Skywalker, the last _Jedi_ , I have won. He is _mine_.”

 

Rey looks to Luke, at his quiet sadness and determination, at his humble robes and suddenly sees the brightness of the Force circling around him. She remembers then, what she has always known and not quite understood, that this is _Luke Skywalker_ , son of Anakin, savior of Vader, Commander in the Rebel Alliance, Jedi Master—that this is Luke Skywalker, the _warrior_.

 

He straightens his back and moves his gaze from Snoke over to Kylo and back to Snoke and gently shakes his head. “No, he’s not,” Luke says quietly.

 

“Oh, but he is!” Snoke insists. “He’s _my_ servant at my command. He’s not yours or your _sister’s_. I have shown him what he can be, what he has become.”

 

“No,” Luke repeats. “He was never mine. He is not yours. He is only himself.”

 

Rey sees Kylo start out of the corner of her eye, but he never moves, just stares at the drama enfolding in front of them both.

 

Snoke laughs, and the timber of his joy makes a shiver travel up and down Rey’s spine. “No, Master Jedi. This man—“ and he sweeps his arm toward Kylo in a dramatic presentation, “is my servant, my Ren, my Sith--Kylo Ren. Ben Solo is _dead_.”

 

Luke looks over at Kylo with his ever-steady eyes and says, once again, “No.”

 

Snoke chuckles and Luke says louder, “No.” He draws a breath. “No, Kylo Ren is still my nephew because Kylo Ren is still Ben Solo. Because while he left with you and chose the name Kylo Ren, he is still my nephew. But he was never mine. He was only himself, free to be whomever he chose, but he is not—“ and now Luke steps forward with firm confidence, raises his lightsaber, and says loudly, “your _slave_.”

 

Snoke turns and meets him with a flash of lightsaber sparks, and suddenly Rey sees what a fight between masters can be. The lightsabers move faster than she can see, just whirls of spiraling light, and she cannot look away. Suddenly though, she remembers Kylo and spins to face him, but he is staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused, with his lightsaber loosely grasped by his side. She looks at him intently, and he does not notice, like he normally would.

 

He starts taking gasping breaths, and she is caught between watching Luke and watching Kylo. She takes a halting step toward him and suddenly he turns the full weight of his attention on her. She looks at his eyes, and then feels the full wave of his unblocked emotions flow in the Force. It is despair and grief and desperation and _anger_ , and her breath catches in her throat. “Kylo,” she says desperately. “ _Ben_ , help him!”

 

Kylo looks forward again and she can see him swallow hard. _This is the last moment_ , she thinks, _please, for Han_.

 

Snoke suddenly goes on a fierce offensive and beats Luke back until he is only blocking the fury of blows Snoke is raining on his saber. Kylo begins to breathe shorter and shorter breaths at the fierce fight, until suddenly, he yells, “STOP.”

 

Snoke breaks away from Luke and backs away until he has enough space to keep Luke in view and talk to Kylo. “Stop?” he says, and Kylo suddenly looks unsure.

 

“Let him go back to his exile. He is too weak to do any harm,” Kylo says, and Rey thinks _not this, do more_.

 

“Ah ah, are you weakening?” Snoke asks. “Remember your training!” and Kylo’s back straightens as if he is in pain.  


Snoke turns back to face Luke. “Prepare yourself, Jedi. This is over now.”

 

“Stop!” Kylo insists again, and she can feel his emotions flow through the Force. Rey looks over at Luke as he watches intently and shakes his arm in preparation for the duel to begin again. He returns her gaze and slowly nods in answer to the question she does not voice out loud. It is time. She closes her eyes in response and connects to the Force. As ever, it circles her with comforting warmth and power. It is _alive_ , and it connects them all, even the darkness, but she pushes it aside to focus on the warmth of the Force she knows. She feels Luke’s steadiness in the Force even now, feels Kylo’s overpowering conflict too. She gathers the Force, the warmest of life, the best of her memories, the strongest of its power, and she pushes it to Kylo. _Remember_ , she thinks. _Remember!_

 

She hears Kylo gasp and she opens her eyes to see Kylo slowly straighten his back. He turns to look at her and she sees that _something_ has changed.

 

“I’m not yours,” he says as Snoke begins to engage Luke in a flurry of action. “ _I’m not yours_ ,” he repeats and there is something like confusion in his tone.

 

“I…” he breaks off, and Rey braces herself to engage him again.

 

Instead, he holds himself tight, and Rey wonders how long he can stand with so much tension. Snoke beats Luke back as he did before, but suddenly Luke turns with a flurry of reenergized movement. Rey watches with baited breath and keeps Kylo in the corner of her eye. His body is turned to the impassioned fight in front of them, but his eyes are glazed, and his face is bewildered. _Choose_ , Rey urges in her mind, and her breaths increase as the fight drags on.

 

The two masters are fighting at a pace Rey did not know people could fight, and the lightsabers are flying through the air.

 

 _Fight, Master_ , Rey thinks, and she doesn’t know what to do. _Stay with Ben_ had been his sole command, and she won’t disobey now.

 

Suddenly, Snoke is pressing forward, and Luke’s arms are weakening. He can only block now as he steps backward, holding up his arms, which are too tired to maintain his furious pace.

 

Luke is almost on his knees, just barely succeeding to block the blows. Out of the corner of her eye, all of a sudden she notices Kylo raise his arm and move forward. “No!” she shrieks, and moves forward to stop him.

 

As she does, he raises an arm and blasts her away to the side before she can raise her arms to defend herself. She flies through the arm and collapses on her stomach by the wall. She lies there, her ears ringing and body aching, but manages to push herself up on her hands just in time to see Kylo attack Snoke from behind. Her ears won’t stop ringing, and she cannot hear a word anyone says. She sees Snoke spin just in time to meet the fall of Kylo’s blade, and the two lock in place for a quiet second. She sees Kylo’s lips move, his face pleading, desperate, angry, and sees Snoke rise in fury before spinning and engaging Kylo in a fierce combat.

 

Luke braces himself on the ground with one hand as he pants with tired breath, before closing his eyes, breathing in and out, centering himself like she has seen him do so many times, and rises from his knee and circles his lightsaber around his head in one of the basic movements he taught her not long enough ago.

 

Kylo and Snoke are fighting still, their red blades meeting with electric jolts, and in the quick moments that Kylo faces her, she can see the emotion and conflict clear on his face, even as he fights Snoke. Snoke is taunting him, she thinks, but she still cannot hear what he says. She tries to push herself off the ground, but her limps shake and she falls back down. Luke charges forward to Snoke’s other side and flings himself back into the fight. Snoke deflects his lightsaber and reaches one arm off in Kylo’s direction and suddenly his body is wracked with the blue of Force lightning.

 

“No!” she hears Luke shout through the decreasing ringing in her ears and sees him press forward. Snoke turns to face him and leaves Kylo crumpled on the ground. Rey braces her arms on the ground and closes her eyes, and she calls the Force to her. She breathes in deep, like she has learned to do, like Luke taught her (like she did once as an instinct in a snowy wood, when there was nothing except loss and grief and anger, when there was a choice to make and power to grab, when there was a battle as desperate as this to fight). She breathes, just for a moment, and gathers the Force around her, its warmth and power and strength filling her lungs and her limbs and mind. She pushes herself off the ground and ignites her lightsaber.

 

She moves forward and circles her lightsaber around her shoulders and her head, gaining momentum like Luke taught her, and then she charges forward. Snoke meets her charge with a passionate deflection, and she braces herself to not fall over. She regains her balance in a second, and goes forward again. She breathes in and out, tries to remember what Luke said, tries to stay calm, to stay focused, to stay at peace.

 

(There’s anger at the back of her mind, even now. Anger at the fight, at this deformed creature that deflects their every blow, at the pitiful, angry, confused man who is trying to push himself off the ground in front of her. But she _refuses_ to let them win, _refuses_ to disappoint Luke, _chooses_ to be the one who will stand by him to the end, who will stay good, and so she pushes her well-deserved anger aside, breathes in and out, and presses forward.)

 

She and Luke engage with Snoke’s movements, and each relieves the pressure when it becomes to heavily concentrated on the other. They are both calm, and she focuses on Luke’s steady, glorious Light that refuses to stop shining.

 

But Snoke is strong. And they are tiring.

 

He has maneuvered himself to face Luke and Rey together in front of him, and he is beating them back, even now. She casts out through the Force to Kylo and feels his conflict (his rage and bitterness and anger still present, but somehow diminished, somehow at odds with the grief within him, the confusion, the betrayal.)

 

 _Help_ , Rey thinks, and she is suddenly angry that he will not listen to her, that he will only listen to the demons that plague him. _Help us._

 

Rey can see him behind Snoke and watches as he lifts his head to meet her eyes. His eyes are dark and haunted, and she hopes that he understands that it is truly now or never.

 

She is staring at Kylo and her foot slips, and Snoke’s lightsaber grazes her shoulder. She screams from the sudden pain and falls to her knees.

 

“Rey!” Luke calls, and she can hear his worry.

 

“I’m…alright,” she says haltingly, and she tries to fight the tears that are coming to her eyes. She pushes herself off the ground again, but before she can move forward, she sees dark cloth fly in front of her eyes and sees Kylo once again deflect Snoke’s attack on Luke. They are all fighting now, figures moving fast and then faster, lightsabers flashing, panting breaths and constants _zings_ of the lightsabers filling the air.

 

Quickly then, in a moment, in the space between breaths, time seems to halt. Snoke’s lightsaber is falling on Kylo, he is bracing, falling, his side is open, the lightsaber will fall, and then suddenly, surprisingly, impossibly, Luke is in front of the blade, his own lightsaber beside him, not protecting him. Snoke’s lightsaber flashes bright, and then Luke is falling, and someone is screaming, and before she can think, before she can reason, she is charging forward, her limbs not her own.

 

The Force surrounds her and she moves faster than before; she doesn’t feel tired. Her lightsaber swings around Snoke, and he is surprised (caught in his exaltation and final victory, he has forgotten her, this last pupil of the light, this last child called by the Force and trained by The Skywalker.) She presses her momentary advantage, grief warring with her calm, but she thinks of Luke, now caught in his nephew’s arms, of his lessons, of her promise, and pushes it aside. She moves forward again, fighting him back, calling on the Force. Time seems to slow; her move suddenly seems obvious. She ducks, spins, slices, and in one moment, Snoke falls. She sees the fury on his face snarl for a brief instant, but then he falls (dead on the ground, his lightsaber rolls away, he is powerless, finally, _powerless_.)

 

She stands and sways, suddenly weak. She breathes in gasping breaths, and then spins on her heels to face Kylo and Luke. Kylo has fallen to the ground next to a weakened Luke. He isn’t dead, but she can already see that there is nothing to be done. Kylo futilely presses a hand to Luke’s side and rests the other on Luke’s head. Rey stumbles over to Luke and falls to her knees beside him. “I’m sorry,” she hears Kylo whisper, and if she didn’t think she knew better, she’d guess that he was trying not to cry.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he says again.

 

Luke tries to draw in some air, and Rey’s cheeks are already damp with tears. “Hold him up,” she says, and Kylo reaches under Luke’s shoulders to brace him against his chest.

 

“I don’t know what…” Kylo tries to say, and then Rey can see that his dark eyes are, in fact, filled with tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

 

“Ben,” Luke says, and somehow that one word is enough to break Kylo. He dips his head to his chest and _shakes_ , and Luke just says again, “ _Ben_.”

 

“I don’t _know_ ,” Kylo says and when he looks up Rey can see that his dark eyes are filled with anguish.

 

“Ben,” Luke gasps. He takes a deep, rattling breath. “I _forgive_ you. Will you forgive me?”

 

Kylo breathes heavy, and he bends his head again, whispers, “There is nothing to forgive.”

 

Luke coughs, his body weakening fast, and Ben whispers, “If you need it, I forgive you.”

 

Luke tries to smile, and when his lips fail, his eyes smile for him. “You will live,” Luke whispers. “Let me look at you.”

 

Ben raises his chin to meet Luke’s eyes even as his tears continue to fall. Luke’s face is relaxed now, and his eyes are as kind as always. They seem to trace Ben’s every feature, and when he is done he turns his eyes to Rey’s. She grasps his hand tightly and makes no effort to wipe her face.

 

“Will you help make things right?” he asks, and she gasps for air and nods.

 

“Yes,” she whispers, and she can hear Ben echo her response.

 

Ben pulls Luke higher in his arms and holds him tight. Luke’s breath begins to become raspier, and Ben says, “No, no Master! Luke, Uncle Luke, please no. I need you,” and his voice breaks.

 

Luke reaches up to place his hand along Ben’s face, and Ben cannot hide his flinch. Luke gently presses his face with a trembling hand and wipes a falling tear. “Go home to her,” he whispers. “Go build. Go home.”

 

He smiles gently, benevolently (like Master Luke always smiles).

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Ben says again and again, through the tears falling down his face.

 

Blood begins to pool in the corners of Luke’s mouth, and Ben gasps and pulls him closer.

 

“I’ll go, I’ll go,” he gasps. Rey reaches one hand over to Luke’s mouth and gently brushes the blood away. She grasps the other hand even tighter and holds it close to her heart.  


“We’ll rebuilt it, Master,” she whispers, and Luke’s eyes soften and slowly flicker closed.

 

He breathes, in and out, just once, and then no more.

 

“No,” Ben says desperately, and Rey closes her eyes to try to hold in her grief.

 

They stay there, silent, the cavernous room filled only with the sound of their sniffles, with the fallen body of the last Sith resting behind them.

 

After several minutes go by, Rey rises to her feet, rubs her face on her sleeves, and says, “Let’s go.” Ben pushes himself off the ground and hoists Luke’s body into his arms and follows her out the door, and doesn’t look back.

 

* * *

 

The Falcon waits for them outside as Chewie paces anxiously. He looks up as they approach, and after he sees whom Ben carries, Rey decides that hearing Chewie roar with such desperation and anger and frustration is two times too many. He snarls at Ben as they approach, but she goes up to Chewie and places her hand on his arm. He opens his mouth, and after he speaks, Rey cannot find the words to comfort him. (For a brief moment, he pulls her into his chest and holds her gently, and she takes the comfort he offers with a deep gratitude.)

 

They quietly make their way onto the Falcon, and she follows Ben as he makes his way into a cabin and gently places Luke on a bunk. He draws a blanket over Luke’s face, and then Ben collapses in a chair beside his uncle’s dead body. After a brief moment, his face falls into his hands and his shoulders begin to shake.

 

Rey stands in the doorframe and can’t decide what to do. This is _Ben_ again, finally coming home, finally _Ben_ , but Kylo Ren isn’t even a memory, and Luke is dead, and she’s so confused and so tired, and she doesn’t want to comfort him; she wants him to _feel_ , to know what he has done, and so she turns and leaves him to the privacy of his own grief and guilt.

 

(She’s taking him home as Han intended and Luke hoped, but her anger will not soften—she will be angry for a long time she knows, angry that this one man has caused untold suffering and the deaths of both her mentors. She will be angry with him for a long time.)

 

* * *

 

Hours later, after she lands the Falcon on the base, she returns back to the room and glimpses Ben’s dry, red eyes before he leans down and once again gathers Luke into his arms with an unsteady gentleness and then follows her out of the room without a word. She exits the ship and sees Leia waiting, her eyes red, and Rey knows that Leia already knows and already feels the absence of the brother she has always felt, even when she did not know of his existence. And now, for the first time in her life he is gone, and Rey is grateful that she does not know her pain.

 

Leia motions her forward, and Rey falls into her waiting arms. Leia holds her taller frame close with a comforting presence and stares at her with warm, grieving eyes, and Rey knows that they will have much to discuss later. Rey moves aside, and then, for the first time in years, Leia’s eyes meet Ben’s. (For a moment, Rey wonders if this will be the moment that the General finally collapses, but even now, even in this moment filled with emotions Rey cannot comprehend, Leia stays strong, and waits.)

 

Ben stands in front of her, his load heavy, and Leia just looks at him, and Rey thinks that she can see tears finally come to Leia’s eyes.

 

“Mother,” Ben mouths, and Leia looks over every feature of her son’s older and worn face and then down to the body of her brother. Leia still says nothing, just reaches out and places a hand on Luke’s cooling body.

 

Rey watches as Leia closes her eyes for a brief moment, and she wonders what the General is thinking.

 

The moment passes all too quickly, and Leia moves aside, still silent, and motions for Ben to lay Luke down on a stretcher resting behind her.

 

Ben moves forward and gently lays him down and fixes the sheet covering Luke’s body. He stays on his knees for a minute before rising to face his mother.

 

“Mother,” he says—and Rey can feel his desperation and guilt reverberate through the Force. “Mom, I’m—I’m sorry,” he says in a rush, and Rey can see that he is barely standing.

 

Leia moves closer and hesitantly raises a hand to brush his cheek. Ben’s eyes fall shut and tears begin to leak.

 

“Oh Ben,” Leia finally whispers and as they both stand shakily, Leia finally grabs her son and holds on to him.

 

He’s so much taller than her, he practically dwarfs her petite frame, but Rey can see that it is Leia who is holding them both upright. Ben is holding on to her like the child he must have been, and she can hear Leia faintly murmuring, “thank you, thank you,” over and over, and she knows it is not to them she speaks.

 

After a moment, Leia pulls herself away and looks over at Rey. “Come,” she says to both of them, and they follow her into a hanger. She leads them through the halls and into a room, and Rey guesses that it must be her own quarters. They pass no one on their walk, and Rey wonders where everyone could have gone. Leia motions for them to sit, and after Rey sits, Leia moves to examine the makeshift bandage Chewie had helped her tie on the flight over.

 

The three of them stay silent, Ben uncomfortable in the corner of the room, as Leia rebandages the wound. After she is done, Rey stands and exchanges a look of understanding with Leia before quietly exiting the room. She makes her way a few steps into the hall before collapsing against the wall and sliding to the ground. She buries her face in her hands and weeps.

 

She stays there, her shoulders shaking, the hall deserted, and cries. Time goes on, and she can’t say if it’s been minutes or hours before she hears steps approach, and then somebody sits beside her and slings an arm around her shoulders to pull her into his warmth. She recognizes Finn’s frame and smell in the back of her mind and lets herself fall into his comforting embrace. He doesn’t ask her any questions (it briefly occurs to her that he must know some of it, but he doesn’t say anything), just holds her and lets her cry.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, he guides her back to the quarters where Poe waits, and these rooms too are deserted.

 

Poe notices her curious look around and quietly says, “It was the least we could do.”

 

Rey collapses on her bunk, and Poe and Finn come sit beside her, one on each side. They sit in silence, and Rey closes her eyes and rests her head on Finn’s shoulder.

 

(Later, she will need to be alone, to meditate, to think, to grieve. But now, in this moment, she is glad that she is not alone. She is grateful and tired and weary and hurt and broken, but she is alive and so are they. It is enough.)

 

* * *

 

Later, Leia comes and finds her, and the boys quietly leave them alone.

 

They sit together, and Rey tells her everything, and together they grieve.

 

* * *

 

“He’ll have to face some sort of punishment,” Leia tells her hours later. “He rejected the dark side in the end, and you and I know what that means, but everyone else won’t really.”

 

“Will he die?” Rey asks quietly, and Leia sits silently in response.

 

“I hope not,” she whispers eventually.

 

* * *

 

She sees Ben again in the morning. He stayed in his mother’s quarters overnight, waiting for the Resistance to decide what to do with him.

 

“What are you going to do?” he asks her from across the table.

 

She stays silent, thinking. “I don’t know,” she admits.

 

It’s the honest answer. She doesn’t know what to do; doesn’t know her place in the Resistance now with her mission done; _still_ doesn’t know where’s home (knows that she does not know enough, not even now, to step into the shoes Luke left behind him).

 

They sit in silence, and Rey would have expected it to be awkward and uncomfortable, and perhaps it is to an extent, but it is also somehow both more and less than that (this is the man who was there, who can hear what she hears and see what she sees, this is the man who knew Luke like she did—master and friend, and even with her anger toward him, she finds some comfort in his presence).

 

“We can’t be him,” Ben says quietly, his face lined and tired. She sees that his grief and guilt weigh heavily on his shoulders, and she says nothing in response.

 

She doesn’t know what to do.

 

* * *

 

Leia organizes a funeral pyre for Luke. People are quiet around Rey and Leia; they are unsure what to say and so they say nothing at all.

 

(She can’t blame them. The death of Snoke and the beginning of the collapse of the First Order is a time of celebration for them, but the death of Luke is a grief too heavy for Rey and Leia to celebrate at this time. But the two of them will continue forward, faces steady and composed, and perhaps they will collapse in private, but no one will know but them.)

 

The rest of the Resistance does sympathize as best they can. Many of the older members of the Resistance remember Luke personally, and the others at least know the legend. They know his significance and his legacy, and they honor it in whatever way they can. When Leia asked for the pyre, they all carried wood out to the spot on the grass. Rey stands by the entrance to the hanger and watches as members of the Resistance (this family of fighters, this collective of believers) carry blocks of wood and stack them to rest on each other until the pyre is tall and waiting. She stands and watches, silent, as they pay their respects in their own special way, and even if she tried, she does not think that she could find the words to speak.

 

* * *

 

As evening begins to approach, Leia comes to the door and touches her hand. Rey follows Leia back to Leia’s room where Ben is sitting hunched over on her bed. Leia motions for her to sit in a chair and absently begins to twist Rey’s hair into a complicated up-do. They sit in silence, these broken three, Leia carefully running her fingers through Rey’s hair, Rey lost in her own thoughts, until Leia finishes pinning Rey’s hair and softly says, “It’s time.”

 

Ben and Rey follow her out the door and through the halls into a deserted room in which resides a single, sheet covered stretcher. Rey’s throat begins to close and her eyes begin to burn, but she looks to Leia (her back ever straight, her face sad but steady (so much like Luke’s) and perhaps her shoulders bend a little, but she is here and she does not cry) and follows her example.

 

Rey and Ben step forward and raise their hands to lift the stretcher with the Force. They guide it out of the room in front of them and together the three of them walk out of the structure. Armed guards fall in behind them (and even now they are surrounded by the costs of Ben’s actions). People are working around the planes outside, and some are already gathered around the pyre. They grow silent as they see the stretcher float out, and they fall in behind Leia.

 

They make their way to the pyre, and Ben and Rey guide the stretcher to rest above it.

 

The sun is beginning to set in the distance. It is a beautiful night. The clouds are beginning to gather above the horizon, but the sky is mostly clear. The sun’s rays are beginning to dance across the grassy hills before them; they are warm and brilliant now, turning from golden to pink to gorgeous, radiant red. The rays light everything in front of them with a haunting beauty, a final goodbye to the Jedi who so wanted to save the galaxy (or perhaps just to save a man. Maybe it is the same thing.)

 

Rey looks to the setting sun and pulls back the sheet from Luke’s face. His face is still and white; he looks calm and at peace, and she so desperately wants to believe that wherever he is, he truly is at peace. Rey bends her head in front of the body and watches for a second as the light dances across his face and reminds her of the light of the Force which always emanated from Luke. She takes a step back then and surrenders her place to Ben who stares down at Luke, just stares, doesn’t cry or say anything, and she wonders what Ben would say to Luke now. After a moment, Ben too steps back, and Leia then approaches. She places a hand on Luke’s chest, and then runs her knuckles across his cheek and brushes her fingers through his grey hair.

 

“Goodbye, my brother,” Rey thinks she hears, but whatever Leia whispers after that is lost to the gentle breeze that blows around them.

 

Leia looks to Poe who is standing nearby with a piece of wood that has already been lit on fire. He comes closer and offers it to Leia who accepts it with a nod of thanks. She takes a step back and lights the tinder on fire, and then she steps back to stand with Rey and Ben.

 

The pyre quickly lights on fire, and the flames lick toward the sky. The crowd stands in silence for a long time, but as the stars begin to emerge, they slowly drift away.

 

As they stand, Leia reaches and grabs Rey’s hand, and Rey holds on with everything she has. She is weary and lonely, and she wishes that Luke and Han could have been here to see Ben stand with Leia again (hopes that they can see anyway). They stand and wait as Luke’s body burns away, as the flames flicker into the rapidly darkening sky, as the winds begin to increase. They keep this one last vigil, lost in their own thoughts (own memories, own regrets), and as they stand, Rey closes her eyes and tries to connect to the Force. It’s still there, strong and brilliant, inside her, outside her, running through everything (through the two standing near her); it’s powerful and strong, and slowly her limbs begin to lose their tension and her heart’s ache begins to ease.

 

This was Luke’s choice, after all. Luke’s choice to come back from exile and engage with Snoke and step in front of the lightsaber and save Ben (like he saved his father).

 

It was Luke’s choice to die in that moment. She grieves it, but she also feels peace. She feels peace that Luke ended his life in the arms of the nephew he died to save, peace that they can have this closure together, peace that while the legacy is too big right now, they will find the answers.

 

They will find the answers because Luke believed they could, and Luke has not been wrong about this, about _them_.

 

They will find the answers, and they will fight, and the First Order will collapse, and she will keep fighting evil, because that is the cause to which she has been called.

 

And she will not be alone, she is confident of that now. She does not know what the future will hold, what battles she will fight, who she will lose (and she is not naïve enough to believe that she will not lose anybody), but she will hold strong, like Luke held strong, like Obi-Wan held strong, like Leia holds strong.

 

Rey closes her eyes and _feels_. She feels the warm pressure of Leia’s hand pressed to hers, the heat from the burning wood in front of her, the cool whisper of the wind brushing her cheeks, the weight of the cloak she wears, and she _breathes_.

 

She is still alive, and life is a precious gift (her assurance does not remove her pain, but it softens the edges). She will miss Luke and Han and the youth she lost, but she is alive, and she will be grateful.

 

She opens her eyes, and as she does so, she hears Leia gasp and Ben choke. She looks out past the flickering flames, and she sees a blue light flicker and then take shape. It is Luke, looking as old as the last time he drew breath, but somehow also younger. His eyes are at peace, and they seem to twinkle at the three of them. His lips curve into a gentle smile and his eyes crinkle at the edges.

 

“Luke,” Leia breathes.

 

Rey smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> This began in pieces and soon I couldn't stop writing. This is one version of how this could go. I started writing it before I read a lot of meta and talked more with friends, and so I will say that my understanding of these characters is constantly evolving, and is of course based on the limited information we received in TFA. 
> 
> There's a lot I couldn't say in this, and decided not to, since this was Rey's perspective and the pace was fast. I didn't feel like more exposition was appropriate. I might write more stories to flesh it out if I can think of a good way to do so. 
> 
> I love this world, I love these characters, and I hope you at least liked this story. 
> 
> Have a wonderful day.


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